Napoleone e l’immagine della corona ferrea

The precious composition of the Monza Cathedral treasure contributed to the construction of the myth of the royal function of the Iron Crown, whose aura of sacredness, given by the presence of the relic of the Holy Nail, made it a sought-after instrument in coronations. The image of the Iron Crown – adopted by the German emperors, the Viscontis, Charles V of Habsburg and others – together with the deep-rooted Italian tradition of the treasure of the Lombard queen Teodolinda, became the emblem of the Kingdom of Italy in the Napoleonic era and a figurative emblem of the coronation on Italian soil. The ceremony in Milan, with its theatrical scenography curated by the architect Luigi Canonica, appears strategic from the point of view of the communication that Bonaparte built for his coronation as king of Italy (26 March 1805). In the rite, presided over by Cardinal Caprara, archbishop of Milan, three crowns were used: the French imperial diadem; the new royal crown of Italy; and the Iron Crown of Monza, which is one of the oldest European symbols of royalty, giving prestige to the ceremony, as a legacy of a thousand-year-old tradition, and considered the coat of arms of the “Kingdom of Lombardy or Italian”.